Chapter 9, 11 and 12

It's always interesting reading about Mohammad and how much he influenced the world.  Religion itself really plays an important role in our history and how we are today. There were a lot of comparisons to Jesus and Christianity which were pretty interesting like how Mohammad and Jesus were different in that  Mohammad was actively involved in military and politics unlike Jesus who hung out with the minority. I enjoy the aspect of the 5 pillars when it comes to the Islamic religion.  They all make sense to me (maybe praying 5 times a day in a certain direction is a bit much) and I like the structure.  Islam also talks about how both sexes are valuable and to be treated equally which is nice to hear.  In Christianity, I'm not sure if men or women are depicted the same and seems more patriarchal.

Chapter 11 illustrates the great Mongol empire and even compares it to the Persian Empire.  So, I don't know much about the Mongols. The Persian and Roman empires, there are movies and I remember learning about them in the history of the past.  Maybe because it's so far east? Their established trade routes were quite impressive and they almost invaded as far as Western Europe.  And to think they had all that and lost it because they didn't have officials in the territories they conquered?  They didn't have planes or telephones to keep them appraised…what were they thinking?

Chapter 12 introduces a little bit about the Americas which is exciting.  It's so mind-boggling that America went so long being undiscovered or at least known to the rest of the world.  I remember learning about Leif Erikson, discovering America hundreds of years earlier, but he isn't mentioned much when it comes to discovering America.  And was it even Leif who discovered America or the Native Americans? Or someone else?  I was intrigued to learn about Christine De Pizan, mentioned on page 395.  A woman unafraid and boldly calling out the misogyny for what it was.  More and more, I am becoming interested in the feminist movement and I admire this woman who was way ahead of her time. 

Chapter 7,8 and 10

I know I wrote about this on the test but reading again on Page 212 of our text about a new dynasties using Confucianism in relation to how they run their government and in a time with such a crazy election, it just makes me frustrated with some of the candidates arrogance. They all say things and when the election comes and the  candidate wins, a lot of the things they promise to do, don’t happen.  I love what JFK said, "Let us not seek the republican or democratic answer, but the right answer."  Sometimes the Democratic and Republican parties seem so silly to me.  I grew up in a Republican, right-winged, Christian home and so before I moved to the bay area, I voted for republican candidates.  Now that I am more aware of politics and am a Human Services major and do feel like I relate more to that party. The truth is it's all hard to understand and I need to do more research. 

In Chapter 8, we learn about the Censtate which is like a checks and balances system.  There were 8 aspects to the government and this department was there just to ensure that these departments were ethical and functioning as they should.  I believe our government has three parts and they are all supposed to balance each other out.  The House of Represntatives, the Senate and of course the president.  I often say how the I'm an antagonist but when I think of our government, I think corruption.  Well, that's the first thing I think of at least.

In reading Chapter 10, I was shocked that the U.S. is no longer the largest when it comes to the Christian religion than other religions.  Like I stated before, I was raised  in the Christian and page 325 sites how there was an "intolerance of other religions".  I was raised this way.  When I took world religions with Delaporte, I was actually nervous.  I loved how it taught me tolerance and acceptance and you really do see a common ground.  Religious or spiritual people, we are all looking for the primarily the same thing. And having put myself in other religions shoes, like what if I were raised Hindu, Islam or Buddhist?  I would believe my religion was the right one and might dislike Christianity.  Who's to say who is right or wrong.  And I thought if there is a God who sees over the universe, maybe he appeared to other countries/people in different ways?  If so, how could our feeble minds begin to comprehend such a being?  I think most of us are clueless.  Nonetheless, I am no longer biased about religion.

Chapter 3,4,5 and 6

I read an article online a few weeks ago explaining that women in the US would need a man with them when they wanted a credit card back in the 1970's.  I was shocked and thought  was surprised that wasn't that long ago.  Chapter 3 had a few instances I read where women were treated as less than. For example, they were not allowed to vote in Greek politics, Vietnam history blames female leadership despite the fact that they were able to hold of Chinese invasion for a few years, Tran Truc and her sister.  That story fascinated  me although they themselves might have been sexist (over 30 generals and they were all women).  It just makes me wonder who/what established women as the underdogs in the first place.  I never thought I would be a feminist per say but patriarchal cultures are starting to frustrate me more and more.

Chapter 4 was an excellent review of the world religions which I learned a lot from a few years ago when I took he class under Delaporte.  The Confucian Answer is really a wonderful way for politics and the people to get along or a boss to an employee, a father to a family, or an elected official to a patron.  I like that it holds everyone accountable.  Page 122 has a question from Strayer, "Why has Confucianism been defined as a 'humanistic philosophy' rather than a supernatural religion?  There seems to be no mention of deity and more of a guide on how to live your life and maintain a peaceful society. Furthermore, the Legalist way, in my opinion doesn't work. The US has more prison inmates than most the rest of the world.  Some are punished, shamed, further brutalized etc…but I don't think it helps.  I think our system is broken and it sounds like that was the way the Chinese society was prior to the introduction of Confucianism.

Chapter 5  discusses various world cultures and goes over class systems.  I was angry when I read on page 59 a priest had murdered a Sudra or untouchable and was hardly punished.  Ever since I learned about India's caste system, it upset me.  Honestly, what is the point of classes - distinguishing who's better, richer, more valuable? When I read about jati's and how one in India was supposed to interact only with their branch of caste, I thought, how much smaller can their world get?  I love living in America and our melting pot. 

Chapter 6 brings shows us what Africa and Mesoamerica were like during the times other societies (Persian, Roman, Greek, Chinese, India, etc…) were established. The Mayans have always been fascinating to me.  They were very sophisticated in communication, astrology, math.  They easily conquered other societies and were taking down not by another but a drought.  We see where Mother Earth factors into history here.  I know that if we didn't get a decent winter in California with lots of water, our state was in trouble (I work for a local water utility) and a lot of people called in scared. The Mayans seemed untouchable but we musn't underestimate Mother Earth.

Chapter 1 & 2

In reading this text from the cover through Chapter two, I found myself focusing more on the people than the natural world.  It's interesting how we discussed this in class, but I feel almost conditioned  or that I am used to only exploring that aspect of history so as I read this text, I am going to actively try to focus on the natural world as well. In the first chapter, the author Strayer explains how the earlier civilizations were living in an ice age.  Less water in our oceans created pathways to other continents and countries which is possibly how people could cross into another country or continent.  Of course this is not the case for the present day civilizations due to global warming which many environmentalists are saying is happening right now.  If that be the case, could another ice age be coming?  Will history repeat itself?  I don't know if I could survive in the ice age.  I'm definitely a California summer-loving woman.

Page 21 illustrates more tolerant civilizations than we have today.  It explains how the Paleolithic era didn't have a patriarchal society like we do today and women and men had more equality.  In some cases women gathered more than half the food consumed versus the men who hunted game. I try to imagine what it would be like to be part of a society without some of the silly gender roles or discrimination and wonder if I would be happier.  I am not sure because at the same time, these people had to survive without some of the luxuries we have today.  In other words, I don't think I could take down a bear.

Page 57 goes into how civilizations began to form classes.  There was slavery, commoners were beaten for striking someone in a higher class.  Obviously as our societies became more sophisticated, people began to distinguish themselves.  It makes me think of a movie that gave a great depiction of different classes and that is Titanic. The luxury of the first class passengers versus the third class was pretty sad.  Especially when it came to the ship sinking and first class passengers were given the opportunity of survival in a life boat while the lower passengers were locked in.  Even in a life or death situation, first class people were given benefits that were unfair.  It makes us look almost less human and makes me question the mainstream as classes do still exist today.